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On the whole, scientist do their most creative work before a [#permalink]
10 Jan 2012, 11:49

00:00

A

B

C

D

E

Difficulty:

25% (medium)

Question Stats:

69%(02:07) correct
31%(01:11) wrong based on 113 sessions

On the whole, scientist do their most creative work before age of forty, a tendency that has been taken to show that ages carries with it a loss of creative capacity. An alternate explanation is that by age forty most scientist have worked in their field for fifteen or more years and that by then they have exhausted the opportunity for creative work in that field. Supporting this explanation is the finding that______.

Which of the following most logically completes the passage?

A) the average age of recipients of scientific research grants is significantly greater than fortyB) a disproportionately large number of the scientist who produce highly creative work beyond age forty entered their field at an older age than is commonC) many scientist temper their own expectations of what they can achieve in their research work by their belief that their creativity will decline as they ageD) a scientist who are older than forty tend to find more satisfaction in other activities, such as teaching and mentoring, than they do in pursuing their own researchE) there is a similar diminution of creativity with age in nonscientific fields, such as poetry and musical composition

The argument says that most research scientists do their best work before the age of 40. Many assume the reason is that as scientists age they become less creative.

The argument proposes another explanation: scientists exhaust their creative opportunities after 15 years, which, for many, is by the time they reach 40.

A finding supporting this second explanation could focus on the majority of scientists. But such an answer choice would be restating the argument, e.g. most scientists who worked in the field for fifteen years report being less creative.

Instead, the correct answer (B) focuses on those scientists who do creative work after age 40. If they started their careers later in life, they have yet to exhaust their creative opportunity for creative work.

Answer choice (D) also focuses on the over 40 cohort. However, the focus is not research and the amount of time they have been doing creative work in their respective fields.

Instead (D) focuses on satisfaction. Nowhere does the argument make a connection between the quality of work done and the satisfaction gained from it.

For example, imagine a scientist who entered the field later in life. Over 40, he tends to enjoy teaching more than research. Yet, because he entered the field late, he has yet to exhaust his opportunity for creative work. He may not enjoy this work as much as teaching, but this predilection doesn’t preclude him from doing creative work after 40. _________________

In B,direct support is given to the argument that age (or years in the field) and creativity are related to each other even if the scientist enter late into a field after certain years decline in creativity is certain.In D,although alternative explanation is given, it directly does not relate age and creativity and it refers to change in scientist's career after the age of 40.